Short messaging using information beacons

ABSTRACT

A short messaging communication system for communicating short messages to a user located in an operating region of the system. Information beacons or beacons which function as store and forward devices operable in a corresponding local operating region communicate with terminal devices that are located within the local operating region. Short messages can be “private” messages wherein only specified recipients are permitted access, or “public” messages whose access is not limited to specific users. A message stored on a beacon can be retrieved by a recipient when the recipient&#39;s presence in the operating range is detected, whereupon the beacon will wirelessly transmit the message to the recipient device. For private messages, a password or other security access code may be required for input into the receiving device to decipher the received message.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to local communication networksand, more particularly, to wireless short message communication systems.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] The availability of various types of wireless communicationdevices produces a need to have these devices interact with each otherin a manner which is cost efficient and which can be easily implemented.Such communication can occur in GSM systems using SMS wherein shortmessages are communicated directly between two or more terminal devices,such as mobile stations, e.g. telephones, PDAs, etc. Terminal devicescan also communicate with each other using infrared signals or radiofrequency (RF) signals.

[0005] Recently, low power RF systems have been proposed for providingcommunications between a plurality of transceivers through a short-rangeradial link having a broadcast range of several meters. One such localRF system is currently under development and is referred to as“Bluetooth”. This system will be commercially available in the nearfuture and is designed to operate in the open spectrum, around 2.4gigahertz. The Bluetooth system will allow for devices such as mobilephones, computers, and other types of terminal devices which are locatedwithin an operable range of the RF system to communicate with eachother.

[0006] Wireless relay networks also exist which, in effect, extend anoperating range of a local RF system by utilizing relay devices tointerface with and provide communication between two or more terminaldevices. Such a network is disclosed in PCT Application No. WO 98/17032,wherein a plurality of communication nodes are wirelessly connected toeach other and to a host device for providing numerous communicationlinks for data to be communicated between the host and terminal devicesinterfaced with the nodes. Such systems do not, however, maketransmission of communications dependant on a location of an intendedrecipient, which is a desired and worthwhile feature in manycircumstances.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention is directed to a short messaging servicefor use with one or more information transceiver beacons. The beaconshave a corresponding local geographic operating area defining a regionin which the beacon can wirelessly communicate with a terminal devicecontained in the operating area. A short message is stored on a subjectbeacon for receipt by one or more intended recipients. When a terminaldevice of an intended recipient enters the operating area of the subjectbeacon, the message is transmitted by the beacon to the terminal device.The beacons may be stand alone devices or may be incorporated in awireless local area network having a plurality of wireless transceiverbeacons in communication with each other.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, the stored short message may contain asecurity access feature to allow access only to one or more intendedrecipients, which may be accomplished by entering a security code in theterminal device of the intended recipient to the beacon. The message maybe transferred from a terminal device directly to a subject beacon, orindirectly via a first beacon or a host in communication with thesubject beacon, or from a device outside of the network by accessing abeacon or the network through a corresponding access address.

[0009] In another preferred embodiment, the message may contain a timelimitation parameter for establishing a time period during which themessage will be available. In the event transmission does not occurwithin the preset time period, the message will be deleted. Ifsuccessful transmission occurs within the time period, the message willalso be deleted.

[0010] In still another preferred embodiment, the message may be apublic message accessible by any recipient that enters the operatingregion of the beacon. Such a message may be used, for example, inadvertising by conveying information concerning a promotional offer by aparticular retail establishment located in the operating region of thebeacon.

[0011] In yet another embodiment, a message may be broadcast to aplurality of beacons in communication with each other and the messagewill be transmitted from any one of the plurality of the beacons to anintended recipient device when the intended device is detected within atransmission area of any of the plurality of beacons. Once the messageis successfully, transmitted, it will be removed from all of the beaconsin the plurality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote similarelements throughout the several views:

[0013]FIG. 1 is a graphical representation of a system for communicatingshort messages in accordance with the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a short range RF networkfor use in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0015]FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the communication functions inaccordance with the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 4 is an illustration of an information beacon in accordancewith the inventive system;

[0017]FIG. 5 is an illustration of a terminal device for use with theinventive system; and

[0018]FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a plurality of remotelyaccessible short-range RF networks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019]FIG. 1 depicts an information beacon 14 operable in an operatingrange 5 for communicating with one or more wireless terminal devices,such as PDAs or mobile phones P₁, P₂ which are located within theoperating range 5. The term beacon refers to a wireless store/forwardtransceiver relay device, as explained more fully below, for storingshort messages and transmitting the stored messages to one or moreterminal devices.

[0020] In one embodiment, a network of beacons 14 may be employed in ashort range RF network or local area network (LAN) 10 illustrated inFIG. 2. Network 10 includes a plurality of wireless transceiver beacons14 connected either directly or indirectly to a host 12 through aplurality of communication paths 16. In the example shown in FIG. 2,three direct paths, 16 a, 16 b and 16 c, are generally shown forconnecting the beacons 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, to the host 12. Eachcommunication path is made up of a direct link 18 a, 18 b, 18 c, definedas a wireless connection between the host 12 and a beacon 14 a ₁, 14 b₁, 14 c ₁, and may include one or more indirect links 20 a and 20 b ₁-20b ₄, defined as a wireless connection between two beacons. In thenetwork 10, path 16 a is made up of a direct link 18 a between beacon 14a, and host 12, and an indirect link 20 a between beacons 14 a ₂ and 14a ₁. Thus, beacon 14 a ₂ communicates with host 12 only through the useof beacon 14 a ₁ in path 16 a. Path 16 c includes only a single directlink 18 c between beacon 14 c ₁ and host 12. As for path 16 b, thisincludes a direct link 18 b between beacon 14 b ₁ and host 12 and alsocontains a plurality of indirect links 20 b ₁, 20 b ₂, 20 b ₃ and 20 b₄, which provide a communication path between host 12 and beacons 14 b₂, 14 b ₃ and 14 b ₄.

[0021] As shown in path 16 b, certain beacons establish multiplecommunication links through which communication with the host 12 canoccur. For example, beacon 14 b ₃ can communicate with beacon 14 b ₁and, ultimately, with host 12 through either beacon 14 b ₂ viaintermediate paths 20 b ₂ and 20 b ₄ or through beacons 14 b ₄ and 14 b₂ through intermediate paths 20 b ₁, 20 b ₃ and 20 b ₄.

[0022] The host 12 is responsible for routing data to the beacons in thenetwork 10 and may interface the network 10 with an external networksuch as the Internet 2, in a manner well-known to those having ordinaryskill in the art. For example, the interface can be a connection 4 whichmay be a fiber optic or other “hard-wired” connection scheme, wirelesslow power RF connections (e.g. Bluetooth), cellular connection, infraredand modem. The host 12 is preferably a personal computer having lowpower RF communication ability including custom designed software fornetwork administration. The host serves as a central maintenance unitfor storing a running inventory register of beacons, as explained below,to which the host is connected, as well as the manner in which thebeacons are connected to each other, e.g., through direct links 18 a, 18b, 18 c or indirect links 20. The inventory register can be based, forexample, on Bluetooth device addresses. Moreover, the host 12 caninterface with one or more additional hosts (not shown) depending on therequirements or demands of the network 10.

[0023] The beacons 14 are relatively small, portable transceiver deviceswhich communicate data between themselves and the host 12 along directlinks 18 and indirect links 20 of communication paths 16 in the network10. Each beacon 14 includes an RF receiver and transmitter capable ofreceiving and transmitting data over the operative range of the RFreceiver. For example, if Bluetooth technology is employed, theoperating range of each beacon and, consequently, the distance betweenadjacent beacons in a network (i.e. the length of each link) usingcurrent technology is in the range of approximately 10 meters for anormal power mode and 300 meters for a high power mode.

[0024] A detail of a preferred beacon device 14 is illustrated in FIG.4. The beacon includes a central processing unit (CPU) 302 interfacedwith one or more short range transceivers 308, 310, 312 forcommunicating with other beacons 14 or hosts 12. A memory 304 andstorage area 306 are provided for storing application software as wellas data to be communicated to intended recipients, as explained morefully below.

[0025] Each beacon functions as a transceiver device and is operable ina corresponding region 5 (shown in FIG. 1), typically defined by theradius of its transmission range. Thus, for a 10 meter operating range,each beacon 14 will be able to communicate with devices contained withina circular geographic area defined by the operating range and centeredat the location of the beacon 14. Such communication may be between asubject beacon (e.g. beacon 14 b ₃) and one or more neighboring beacons(e.g. 14 b ₂, 14 b ₄) or between a subject beacon and one or more mobiledevices such as, for example, a personal digital assistant (PDA) ormobile telephones shown as P₁ and P₂.

[0026] A detail of the terminal device or mobile phone P₁ is illustratedin FIG. 5. As shown, the mobile phone includes a display 202, such as anLCD display as is known in the art, a central processing unit (CPU) 208and a memory 210. Standard mobile transmission and reception occurs viaa network transceiver 206 connected to an antenna 212, and shortmessaging for communication with a subject beacon 14 is conducted via ashort range transceiver 204 connected to the antenna.

[0027] For the mobile devices to communicate with the beacon or with thenetwork 10, each device will have a designated address code, such as ane-mail address. As shown in FIG. 2, telephone P₁ is illustrativelylocated within the operating ranges of beacons 14 b ₃ and 14 b ₄ andtelephone P₂ is illustratively located within the operating range ofbeacon 14 b ₃. It will be appreciated that as the telephones P₁, P₂ aremobile devices, their exact positions relative to specific beacons aredynamically changing as a telephone user moves about an environment inwhich the information beacons 14 or the network 10 operates. Thus, at alater time telephone P₂ may be in the operating range of beacon 14 b ₁while telephone P₁ moves within the operating range of beacon 14 c ₁.

[0028] Each beacon 14 functions as a store and forward device forproviding communication of messages between the mobile devices P₁, P₂.The messages may be intended for receipt by one or more specific ordesignated recipients based on the recipient identification (“privatemessages”) or may be accessible to multiple recipients without therequirement of recipient identification (“public messages”). Thecommunication of both types of messages are discussed more fully below.

[0029] To communicate with the beacons 14, the mobile devices include alow power infrared or RF communication feature, such as Bluetooth, as isknown in the art. It is presently contemplated that communicationbetween a mobile device and a particular beacon will be limited torelatively short text messages in a manner analogous to the ShortMessage Service available in present GSM systems, but may also includeaudio messages and larger text messages. To forward a private message toa particular beacon (e.g. 14 b ₃) from device P₁, the device must becapable of communicating either directly or indirectly with beacon 14 b₃. This is accomplished by activating a low power RF communicationfeature of the device P₁ (e.g. a Bluetooth chip) and positioning thedevice P₁ within the operating range of beacon 14 b ₃. A text or audiomessage can then be created and transmitted, in a known manner, alongwith an address (e.g., e-mail address) of an intended recipient, fortemporary storage in a memory location of the receiving beacon (14 b ₃).The message can be designated for storage on a particular beacon (e.g.,14 b ₃) or for storage on some or all beacons in direct or indirectcommunication with beacon 14 b ₃, e.g., a broadcast message to aplurality of beacons.

[0030] As an alternative to directly communicating with beacon 14 b ₃and transmitting a message for storage, indirect communication can occurby, for example, transmitting a message through the network 10 to beacon14 b ₄ and providing a destination address to allow the message to beforwarded to beacon 14 b ₃. This allows for the message sender (i.e. theoperator of device P₁) to be in the operating range of beacon 14 b ₄ andnot within the operating range of beacon 14 b ₃. One circumstance inwhich this feature may be useful is in coordinating a time for a meetingscheduled to take place within an operating environment of the network10. For example, if a meeting place within the operating range of beacon14 b ₃ was previously scheduled by a party who is within the operatingrange of a remote beacon (e.g. beacon 14 b ₁,) and who is going to bedelayed, the delayed party can forward a message through beacon 14 b ₁to beacon 14 b ₃ via communication links 20 b ₄, 20 b ₂, to inform anintended recipient that there will be a delay to the meeting.

[0031] For private messages which are intended to be selectivelyreceived by one or more intended recipients (e.g. a select group), themessage must be stored on a desired beacon and retrieved from thedesired beacon in a manner for preventing unintended mobile devices fromgaining access to the message. To accomplish this task in accordancewith the present invention, secrecy or encoding techniques are employed.Although a plurality of such techniques are widely available, thepresently preferred embodiment utilizes PGP encryption for this purpose.This requires the message sender and recipient(s) to be previouslyidentified to each other by exchanging so-called “public keys” which therespective sender will use to encrypt and transmit a message to a beaconfor storage. Upon transmission of the stored message to the intendedrecipients, the intended recipients will be able to decode the messageupon entry of a password, as is known in the art.

[0032] One of the various alternatives to PGP encryption is assigningeach user address (e.g. e-mail address) with a corresponding passwordthat will be used to access a message stored by a sender. In such asystem, the sender will use the recipient's e-mail address to transmitthe message to a desired beacon for storage and the recipient will gainaccess to the message by entering the recipient's password. Thus, thepassword will be entered onto the recipient's device (e.g., P₂) whenaccess to messages is desired. The verification of the password ispreferably performed in the recipient device, which will insure that thebeacon architecture design can remain relatively simple and transparentwith standard memory and transceiver electronics (e.g., Bluetooth chips)without requiring the storing of operation of verification software forconfirming password validity, etc. However, password verification at therecipient device may pose certain security risks, especially if thepassword is saved in memory contained in the recipient device. Toalleviate or reduce this risk, the mobile devices may contain securityinformation in the device application software necessary to guaranteethe user identity such as by including a hard-coded security algorithmthat is unable to be duplicated.

[0033] As explained above, private messages are intended to be receivedby one specific recipient or by a group of recipients. Private messagesare transmitted from a subject beacon (e.g., 14 b ₃), or in the case ofa broadcast message which is stored on a plurality of subject beacons,to an intended recipient when the intended recipient enters into theoperating range of the beacon and the intended recipient device isdetected. To accomplish this, the intended recipient device must beactivated for automatic access, i.e. the Bluetooth function or theinfra-red function is operating, to identify the recipient device to thetransmitting beacon. Once the recipient device is identified (e.g.,“connected’ to the network 10), the private message will be transmittedautomatically from one of the subject beacons containing the privatemessage. After receipt, the message can be decrypted such as by enteringan encryption password on an input (e.g. a keyboard) of the receivingdevice, whereupon the message is conveyed to the recipient in text,audio or other format. After the recipient receives a private message, areply can be sent solely to the transmitting beacon or as a broadcastsignal to multiple beacons for receipt by the message originator, byutilizing the message originator's address and the sender's password.

[0034] The inventive method described above for communicating a privatemessage from a sender to a recipient through the use of a beacon isillustrated in FIG. 3. When a private message is prepared by a sender,it is encrypted and transmitted to a designated beacon. The transmissionmay occur directly between a sender's device and the designated beaconby transmitting the message (step 3.1) within a corresponding operatingrange of the beacon, or indirectly, as explained above, via use ofanother beacon in communication with the designated beacon. Adetermination as to whether the message is private will then be made(step 3.2) by detecting, for example, a security code or an encryptionformat. The private message will then be stored in memory on thedesignated beacon with a security code (step 3.3). When an activatedrecipient device enters the operating range of the designated beacon,the beacon will sense or become aware of the recipient (step 3.4) bydetecting, for example, a Bluetooth signature, SIM card or othercorresponding address code associated with the intended recipient orrecipient device, and transmit the stored message (step 3.5). Uponreceipt, the recipient can enter a decryption code or password, ifrequired, to decipher or gain access to the received message (step 3.6).

[0035] Once the private message is successfully transferred, it willeither be deleted from the beacon memory, as in the case of only oneintended recipient, or will no longer be available to the recipient thatreceived the message but will still be available to other intendedrecipients. As a further safeguard against exceeding the memory storagecapacity of the beacons, the private messages may be created with or mayhave a standard time delivery limitation. For example, a message sendermay set a time parameter for a message to be available for a timeduration (e.g., 2 hours) or up to a specific time (e.g. 2:00 P.M.).Moreover, each beacon can be designed to delete private messages after apreset time period expires (e.g. after 3 hours, at 12:01 A.M. of everyday, etc.).

[0036] While the delivery of private messages involves security concernsto safeguard against non-intended recipients receiving messages, thecommunication of “public” messages do not possess such concerns. Publicmessages may be used, for example, in advertising, to inform potentialcustomers of sales promotions offered by an establishment proximate aspecific beacon. As users enter the operating area of the specificbeacon the user may obtain access, in a manner explained more fullybelow, to a message describing the particular sales promotion. Publicmessages may also include for example general information related ortailored to a geographic location containing the subject beacon, such asproviding mass transit time tables for trains or buses departing from orarriving at the geographic location, as well as theater performancetimes, for events at a theatre in the operating range of the subjectbeacon, etc.

[0037] Although intended recipients of private messages are preferablyalerted when they enter into an operating range of a beacon, recipientsof public messages may be required to request delivery of publicmessages. The public messages can be created by, for example, a serviceprovider of one or more networks 10 and stored in location specificdestinations to maximize user accessibility and use of the publicmessages. With reference to FIG. 6, for example, a system is depictedhaving a plurality of networks or LANs (10 ₁, 10 ₂, 10 ₃, 10 ₄) eachcontaining a plurality of beacons (in FIG. 6, only one beacon BT isshown for each LAN as 14 ₁, 14 ₂, 14 ₃, 14 ₄, respectively). The LANsare connected through the Internet 2 to one or more service providerswhich operate the LANs. The service providers preferably operate theLANs and may also control the public messages intended for storage onthe individual beacons. Thus, if a commercial establishment desires tohave a particular public message posted on a beacon (e.g. a beaconhaving a transmission area in which the commercial establishment or acompetitor is located), the appropriate service provider would becontacted. The service provider can then access the desired LAN andbeacon, such as via the Internet using appropriate software applicationsand addresses, to store the desired message. If one of the networks(e.g. LAN 10 ₁,) operates in a shopping center containing various typesof retail establishments, public messages may be created andstrategically placed at appropriate beacons (e.g., BT 14 ₁) positionedproximate certain retail establishments to alert potential patrons inthe vicinity of the specific retail establishments of availablepromotional offers. For example, a public message containing informationon a clothing sale offered by a store, proximate a specific informationbeacon containing the message will be transmitted to devices (e.g., P₁)that are within the operating range of the specific beacon 14 ₁. Thisprocess is generally depicted in steps 3.7-3.10.

[0038] In one alternative, the public messages may be stored incategories by subject matter. Access to messages can then be requestedby a recipient when the recipient enters into the operating range of aspecific beacon. For example, a recipient can execute a command on aterminal device to receive a category list or menu of messages (e.g.clothing offers, food promotion, etc.) and then select the category ofmessages to be transmitted by the beacon. Once the category istransmitted, the messages in the category can be viewed and a particularmessage can be selected for transmission by the beacon to the recipientdevice. Alternatively, public messages can be automatically transferredto a recipient device upon entry of the recipient into the operatingarea of the beacon, i.e. without requiring the user to initiate arequest to the beacon.

[0039] The network 10 also functions as an electronic message center or“bulletin board” wherein users can access information posted by otherusers (either directly or through the service providers) on one or morebeacons which are strategically located in high user traffic areas suchas an entrance to a shopping center. As an example, if a user wants topost a message or advertisement concerning the user's sale of an item,such as furniture, the user will send a short message request to adesired beacon where the advertisement is to be stored. The user maythen receive a message from the beacon containing an informationsolicitation form seeking certain information from the user (e.g. theprice of the item for sale and, optionally, a digital image of theitem). The information is then provided by the user to the beacon forstorage. When a second user enters the operating range of the subjectbeacon containing the first user's stored message, the second user maysend a SMS message request to the beacon for all “sale” items. Thesecond user will receive, in response, a message containing a list ofcategories for sale items. The user can then scroll through the list tofind the “furniture” category and then select the desired message,whereupon the beacon will transmit the first user's message to thesecond user's mobile phone.

[0040] For public messages, a beacon may be designated as an“information beacon” which functions as a storing device and which is incommunication, either directly or indirectly with other beacons in thenetwork. Thus, a recipient of a public message can communicate arequest, through a beacon presently servicing the recipient device, totransmit all or select public messages to the recipient device. Thiswill cause the select public messages to be retrieved from theinformation beacon and transmitted, either directly or indirectly, tothe recipient device.

[0041] Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed outfundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferredembodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes in the form and details of the devicesillustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in theart without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, itis expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/ormethod steps which perform substantially the same function insubstantially the same way to achieve the same results are within thescope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized thatstructures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described inconnection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may beincorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form orembodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention,therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claimsappended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wirelessly communicating a messagefrom a sender to a recipient in a local environment, comprising thesteps of: positioning an information beacon in the local environment,said information beacon having a memory and a transceiver and beingcapable of transmitting messages in an operating region associated withsaid beacon; wirelessly transmitting the message from the sender to saidbeacon; storing the message in memory in said beacon; detecting thepresence of a recipient device when the recipient device is located inthe operating region of said beacon; and wirelessly transmitting themessage from said beacon to the recipient device.
 2. The method of claim1, further comprising the step of encrypting the message prior tostoring the message in said beacon memory, and decrypting the messageafter the message is received by the recipient device.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said detecting step further comprises the step oftransmitting a command from the recipient device to said beacon totransmit the stored message to the recipient device.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said beacon and the recipient device employ Bluetoothtechnology.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the recipient device hasan assigned unique address code and wherein said detecting stepcomprises detecting the unique address code.
 6. The method of claim 5,further comprising the step of designating the message with the addresscode of the recipient device.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of assigning a time period to the message duringwhich the message will be transmittable from said beacon to therecipient device.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the stepof deleting the message from said beacon after the time period expires.9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of deleting themessage from said beacon after the message is transmitted to therecipient device.
 10. The method of claim 3, wherein said step ofwirelessly transmitting the message from the sender to said beaconfurther comprises the steps of wirelessly transmitting a plurality ofmessages having topic categories, and wherein said step of transmittinga command from the recipient device to said beacon further comprises thestep of selecting specific categories of messages for transmission bysaid beacon to the recipient device.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereinsaid recipient device is a mobile phone.
 12. A method of communicating amessage from a sender device to a recipient device in a wireless localarea network having a plurality of wireless beacons in communicationwith each other and a host, with each beacon containing a memory, and atransceiver, and being operable in a corresponding operating region,comprising the steps of: wirelessly transmitting a message from thesender device to a specific one of said plurality of beacons currentlyserving the sender device; storing the message received by said specificone of the plural beacons in a memory; detecting the presence of therecipient device when the recipient device enters the operating range ofa particular one of said plural beacons currently serving the recipientdevice; retrieving the stored message by said particular beacon; andwirelessly transmitting the retrieved message from said particularbeacon to the recipient device.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein saidstep of wirelessly transmitting the message to said specific one beaconcomprises the step of transmitting the message to a second beacon incommunication with said specific one beacon, and forwarding the messagefrom said second beacon to said specific one beacon.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein said step of storing the message comprises storing themessage in the memory of said second beacon.
 15. The method of claim 12,further comprising the step of encrypting the message prior to storingthe message in memory, and decrypting the message after the message isreceived by the recipient device.
 16. The method of claim 12, whereinsaid detecting step further comprises the step of transmitting a commandfrom the recipient device to said particular beacon to transmit thestored message to the recipient device.
 17. The method of claim 12,wherein said plurality of transceiver beacons and the recipient deviceemploy Bluetooth technology.
 18. The method of claim 12, wherein therecipient device has an assigned unique address code and wherein saiddetecting step comprises detecting the unique address code.
 19. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising the step of designating themessage with the address code of the recipient device.
 20. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising the step of assigning a time period to themessage during which the message will be transmittable from saidparticular beacon to the recipient device.
 21. The method of claim 20,further comprising the step of deleting the message from memory afterthe time period expires.
 22. The method of claim 12, further comprisingthe step of deleting the message from memory after the message istransmitted to the recipient device.
 23. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising the step of deleting the message from memory after themessage is transmitted to the recipient device.
 24. The method of claim12, wherein said recipient device is a mobile phone.
 25. The method ofclaim 12, wherein said plurality of beacons includes an informationbeacon.
 26. The method of claim 12, wherein the wireless local areanetwork is in communication with a mobile network.
 27. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the wireless local area network is in communicationwith a global computer network.
 28. A system for wirelesslycommunicating a message from a sender device to a recipient device in alocal environment, comprising: an information beacon positioned in thelocal environment, said information beacon having a memory and atransceiver and being capable of transmitting messages in an operatingregion associated with said beacon; means for wirelessly transmittingthe message from the sender device to said beacon; means for storing themessage in memory in said beacon; means for detecting the presence of arecipient device when the recipient device is located in the operatingregion of said beacon; and means for wirelessly transmitting the messagefrom said beacon to the recipient device.
 29. The system of claim 28,further comprising means for encrypting the message prior to storing themessage in said beacon memory, and means for decrypting the messageafter the message is received by the recipient device.
 30. The system ofclaim 28, wherein said means for wirelessly transmitting the messagefrom the sender to said beacon and said means for transmitting themessage from said beacon to the recipient device comprise Bluetoothtechnology.
 31. The system of claim 28, wherein the recipient device hasan assigned unique address code and wherein said means for detectingcomprises means for detecting the unique address code.
 32. The system ofclaim 28, wherein said recipient device is a mobile phone.
 33. Thesystem of claim 28, further comprising means for connecting saidinformation beacon to a global computer network in communication with aservice provider, and means for communicating a second message from theservice provider to said information beacon by transmitting the secondmessage over the global computer network.
 34. A system for communicatinga message from a sender device to a recipient device in a wireless localarea network having a plurality of wireless beacons in communicationwith each other and a host, with each beacon containing a memory, and atransceiver, and being operable in a corresponding operating region,comprising: means for transmitting a message from the sender device to aspecific one of said plurality of beacons currently serving the senderdevice; a memory for storing the message received by said specific oneof the plural beacons; means for detecting the presence of the recipientdevice when the recipient device enters the operating range of aparticular one of said plural beacons currently serving the recipientdevice; means for retrieving the stored message by said particularbeacon; and means for wirelessly transmitting the retrieved message fromsaid particular beacon to the recipient device.
 35. The system of claim34, wherein said means for wirelessly transmitting the message to saidspecific one beacon comprises means for transmitting the message to asecond beacon in communication with said specific one beacon, and meansfor forwarding the message from said second beacon to said specific onebeacon.
 36. The system of claim 35, wherein said storing means comprisesstoring the message in the memory of said second beacon.
 37. The systemof claim 34, further comprising means for encrypting the message priorto storing the message in memory, and means for decrypting the messageafter the message is received by the recipient device.
 38. The system ofclaim 34, wherein said detecting means further comprises means fortransmitting a command from the recipient device to said particularbeacon to transmit the stored message to the recipient device.
 39. Thesystem of claim 34, wherein said plurality of transceiver beacons andthe recipient device employ Bluetooth technology.
 40. The system ofclaim 34, wherein the recipient device has an assigned unique addresscode and wherein said detecting means comprises means for detecting theunique address code.
 41. The system of claim 40, further comprisingmeans for designating the message with the address code of the recipientdevice.
 42. The system of claim 34, further comprising means forassigning a time period to the message during which the message will betransmittable from said particular beacon to the recipient device. 43.The system of claim 42, further comprising means for deleting themessage from memory after the time period expires.
 44. The system ofclaim 34, further comprising means for deleting the message from memoryafter the message is transmitted to the recipient device.
 45. The systemof claim 35, further comprising means for deleting the message frommemory after the message is transmitted to the recipient device.
 46. Thesystem of claim 34, wherein said recipient device is a mobile phone. 47.The system of claim 34, wherein said plurality of beacons includes aninformation beacon.
 48. The system of claim 34, wherein the wirelesslocal area network is in communication with a mobile network.
 49. Thesystem of claim 34, wherein the wireless local area network is incommunication with a global computer network.